Climate Change: Earth in Danger

By: Aakash Sinha

Climate change is a terrible problem, and it absolutely needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority– Bill Gates.

The temperature of Bengaluru is rising. Maharashtra is facing drought. Glaciers of Arctic and Antarctica are undergoing reduction. European countries are going to face flood like situation by 2020. Sea levels will rise. World will become frost free. Why it is happening? One place is very cool and the other place is too hot. Why?

Is Earth moving towards the end?
The climate of Earth is changing. Global Warming has threatened the whole sphere and the effects are likely to be significant. We can feel the change but we are quiet. According to NASA, climate change is messing up with the movement of Earth. Before 2000, Earth’s spin axis was drifting toward Canada (left globe). Climate change-driven ice loss in Greenland, Antarctica and elsewhere is pulling the direction of drift eastward.

Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Many such changes are being observed by the scientists happening around the globe.

Who is responsible?

“Social Animal”- the most intelligent creature on Earth is blamable. Human race is very fond of development. Doesn’t matter, how it comes? Scientists claim that there’s 90 per cent probability that human activities over the past 50 years have warmed our planet. An industrial effluent like Carbon dioxide is the major ingredient of greenhouse gas which is damaging the nature continuously. Further, the Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) used in air conditioners and refrigerator is primarily responsible for the depletion of ‘ozone layer’. Ozone layer is the protection layer around the Earth which reflects back the ultra violet rays from the sun.

What would be the consequences?

Rising Temperature: Green House gases from power plants, Vehicle exhaust, and deforestation are mainly responsible for the increment in temperature. Scientists project that if emissions of greenhouse gas are not reduced, we can see increment of 3 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of century. One degree is enough to change the whole climatic conditions on Earth.

Shifting of Vegetation: As the temperature of Earth will rise, it will tend to change the pattern of rainfall and snowfall. Trees and plants will adapt the Polar and Mountain Regions. Temperature of a place is an important condition for vegetation.

Irreversible Extinction: Due to severe change in climatic conditions, the wildlife will be unable to adjust with the conditions. Experts claim that 25% of Earth species could be headed for extinction due to climate change.

Rising Waters: With Earth heating up day by day, the waters in ocean and sea will rise resulting in submerging of lands. According to the report prepared by group of ecologists led by Dr. M Zafar-ul Islam, “The Indian sub-continent may lose close to 14,000 sq. km of land with the rise of 1 meter of sea level”.

Flood and Drought situation: The rise in temperature increases the risk of drought situation. Due to climate change there will be increase in summer time and decrease in spring and rainy season. Land affected by drought is more vulnerable to floods during rainy seasons. These can have an adverse effect on human health. Asia and Africa are already facing this situation. Presently Indian state, Maharashtra is facing drought.

Human Health: Due to rising temperature, people are dying of heat-related illness. Scientists have linked deadly heat waves to climate change and warn more to come. Several Bacteria, microbes and insects are finding suitable condition to breed in places which were too cool for them to adapt. In 2015, more than 2500 people died in India due to Heat stroke.

What more climate change can do? Low yield in crops are forcing millions of people to starve.

What we can do?

We cannot stop the climate change suddenly. Rather, we can slow down the change happening in nature.

Some of the conscious efforts which we can contribute are:-

Use less Energy:

Turn OFF the appliances at home, when not in use.

The energy efficient appliances can help in saving bills as well as reducing Carbon emissions.

Be Eco-friendly:

Don’t use flights. Use a train or alternative transport.

Minimize the shopping trips. Try to make a list and buy all at a time.

Walk to small distances rather than using a vehicle.

Change your habits:

Use public transports or pool a car.

Shut down computer rather logging off.

Spread your good habits.

Consume less Non-Veg:

According to a report published by Worldwatch Institute, 51 percent or more of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture. So we can consume less meat, egg and dairy products to prevent global warming.

Teach your next generation:

It’s very important to educate the coming generation about the current situation of environment. So, pass on your habits to them so that they don’t repeat the same mistake.

Permafrost in Northern Arctic can potentially become a permanent source of Carbon

It was previously thought to be safe from the effects of Global Warming

Rising temperature in the Arctic can cause severe carbon emissions

Permafrost in the coldest northern Arctic — formerly thought to be at least temporarily shielded from global warming by its extreme environment — could thaw enough to become a permanent source of carbon to the atmosphere in a few decades, warns a NASA-led study. This will happen in this century, with the peak transition occurring in 40 to 60 years, said the study.

Permafrost in Northern Arctic can become a permanent source of carbon in this century itself, according to NASA. Wikimedia Commons

Permafrost is soil that has remained frozen for years or centuries under topsoil. It contains carbon-rich organic material, such as leaves, that froze without decaying, NASA said in a statement on Tuesday.

As rising Arctic air temperatures cause permafrost to thaw, the organic material decomposes and releases its carbon to the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.

The researchers calculated that as thawing continues, by the year 2300, total carbon emissions from the coldest northern Arctic will be 10 times as much as all human-produced fossil fuel emissions in 2016.

Warmer, more southerly permafrost regions will not become a carbon source until the end of the 22nd century, even though they are thawing now, said the study led by scientist Nicholas Parazoo of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

That is because other changing Arctic processes will counter the effect of thawing soil in these regions.

The finding that the colder region would transition sooner than the warmer one came as a surprise, according to Parazoo. The researchers used data on soil temperatures in Alaska and Siberia and a numerical model that calculates changes in carbon emissions as plants grow and permafrost thaws in response to climate change.

They assessed when the Arctic will transition to a carbon source instead of the carbon-neutral area it is today — with some processes removing about as much carbon from the atmosphere as other processes emit.

World is under threat due to Global Warming. Wikimedia Commons

They divided the Arctic into two regions of equal size, a colder northern region and a warmer, more southerly belt encircling the northern region. There is far more permafrost in the northern region than in the southern one.

Over the course of the model simulations, northern permafrost lost about five times more carbon per century than southern permafrost.

The southern region transitioned more slowly in the model simulations, Parazoo said, because plant growth increased much faster than expected in the south.